未来のために
by Elv
Summary: 09/03/10 Chap1 revised. Others under revision. It was year 2018, when the Japan Branch of Gakuen Alice in Tokyo is destroyed by its enemy, the Anti-Alice Organization. The chronicles of 20-year-old Sakura Mikan avenging her friends, begins right here. #3
1. 未来のために Prologue

It was year 2018, when the Japan Branch of Gakuen Alice in Tokyo is destroyed by its enemy, the Anti-Alice Organization. Alice Academies all over the world were attacked as well, by various circumstances, a few managed to stand firm, while others only had their sad and dark past left behind. Alice wielders are scattered all over the world, including the 18-year-old Sakura Mikan. The students and teachers were executed, and even those who supported public protest against the persecution of Gakuen Alice are banished as well. For those who acquire or inherit Alices, regardless from the days where Gakuen Alice reigned, or after its end, were captured and wiped off from their existence. In short, Alices weren't what they were in the past. Even though they possess useful Alices to improve the world, many consider them as threats, thus resulting in the complete demolition of the Alice Academy history.

By year 2020, Alices are considered a taboo, and illegal according the laws of Japan. As the Anti-Alice Organization overtakes the Government and continues to pursue the Alices, 20-year-old Sakura Mikan, who possesses the Nullification Alice and the rare Stealing Alice has nothing but revenge in mind for separating herself from her friends, thus killing them.

The chronicles of Sakura Mikan avenging her friends begins right here, as her uncovers sad truth which will change her life drastically, and that did her friends really perished in the battle with the Anti-Alice Organization. In failure to defend their school, will the Alices bear guilt in their hearts, and as the politicians and their enemies continue to slowly erase the existence of Alice Academy, will they come out and once again defend their rights as Alices?

**未来のために Prologue**


	2. 未来のために 第一章

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

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**未来のため****に ~****第一****章~**

**.Mich.**

**Revised version (March 2010)**

"Mikan! Wait for me!"

An awfully familiar voice echoed across the streets. I sighed, and looked past my shoulder before stopping to wait the person to catch up.

Hey, was what she said as she patted on my shoulder.

Meet Ishida Naoko: A clerk working in Tokyo Bank. Despite the fact that I'm considered her boss, we still shared a close friendship, though I think it's pretty one-sided. Well, it's not like that I hate her or what, but sometimes she's just a little too clingy. Ugh.

And how did we meet, you said? Well, I'll leave that for now.

"Yes?" I questioned the girl, who was already standing beside me.

"Lunch!" she beamed.

I sighed mentally. And I thought I could have lunch peacefully today.

I scrutinized her dressing today. She was clad in a black overcoat with a frilly white blouse inside, plus her knee-length striped white-and-black skirt. Typical working uniform you could say. As for me, I was wearing the same, except that my overcoat is a little grey-ish and that I have a red bow tie tucked on my plain white blouse.

"Alright."

Her grin got wider, and that it got me a little scared.

"Your treat?" I asked.

"No. Yours." She said bluntly and proceeded to walk first. I rolled my eyes and wondered to myself why I became friends with her at first.

After dropping at two bus stops and walking about a few miles, we finally settled in what Naoko called, 'the gigantic place'.

Yes, huge it is.

The building stood tall on the ground about … ten storeys high? The whole structure is made of glass, and the shape of the top of the building is slightly arched, giving it a little touch of class.

I glanced at the girl briefly, and I saw her blue eyes sparkling, excitement dancing in them. Her hands were clasped on her front.

"So you want to dine here?"

She nodded almost instantly, her eyes blinking at me. And the only thing that ran across my mind was how much the bill would cost.

_I'm starting to have this weird feeling again. A weird, but overly-familiar feeling, when Hotaru used to talk about money over and over again. Nostalgic, you could say._

"Come on!" she nudged me to follow her inside the building.

"Bonjour!" the usher greeted us in French and we found ourselves walking into a semi-crowded lobby.

Impressive, I must say.

The lobby is lighted with glimmering beige-colours, giving off a relaxing feel. The ceiling was adorned with classic carvings and just by standing there made me feel like I'm in some kind of Romanian museum. In the background, soft classical music was played, and it absolutely feels like I'm in a six stars hotel. And I swear I look like some kind of alien who just arrived at the human's world.

"You look like you're in alien's world." She stifled a chuckle. Bull's eye, I thought.

"How did you find a place as impressive as this?"

She tipped her chin with a finger, "Let's say I accidentally bumped into here?"

Right, like I'll believe that.

"So!" she suddenly beamed. "What do you want to eat today? I'll help you order!"

"Naoko. I've never been here. I don't know what they serve here."

The girl nodded in response. "I'll order for you then." And she lifted up her hand, gesturing for the waiter to take our orders.

"Un piatto di pasta italiana Bolognaise, and …"

I was stunned. Naoko's speaking, what, _Italian_?

I didn't really pay attention to what she ordered else than that, not that I understand what she said either.

" … That's all."

"Naoko, did you just speak Italian?"

She smiled at me, but said nothing else. There's something about Naoko which I don't quite comprehend. Though sometimes she could be bubbly and bouncy, she always had that kind of mysterious aura lingering around her.

And then, I noticed. She got a spot beside the window! And whoa, it's so high up from here!

Okay, I know that I'm sounding really deranged now, but I was flabbergasted. I mean, the place was almost full, not only did she get a reservation ready, she even got a nice seating. I glanced at her, and saw her eyes were scanning through the menu, a small smile stuck on her lips.

"Thank you for waiting."

The waiter placed a plate of Italian Bolognaise Pasta, a bowl of Mushroom Cream Soup, a plate of –

"What the hell is this?"

Okay, it seems like my voice was a bit loud, cause' I saw heads snapping towards our table, and even the waiter looked astonished.

"Err …" I sputtered.

"It's just raw oysters." Naoko whispered as she nodded apologetically at the people around us.

I bore my eyes on the cuisines placed in front of me.

"How much will this cost …" I murmured to myself.

"Oh silly Mikan. I brought you here, of course I'm treating you."

I looked at her disapprovingly. "Are you sure you're a clerk? And only a clerk? You're not working with some wealthy organization, are you?"

She then looked at me with those eyes of her. I shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny because her stare was icy and cold, and instantly I wondered if I had said something wrong.

But what was unexpected was that her thinned lips curved upwards into a big grin and her eyes were squinted before she beamed 'Beats me!' and continued eating her favourite appetizer.

I turned towards the window, my hand unconsciously stirring the bowl of soup with the silver cutlery, my chin rested on the other hand.

The streets were so crowded with people walking around and vehicles bustling on their lanes. Without myself realising, I was recalling _that_ again.

"How long has it been?" I asked myself silently.

_It was two years ago, and it was just any typical usual day. I remembered then, I was walking towards the girls' dormitory with Hotaru and the gang after having Physical Education class at the field. Natsume and Ruka and even Iinchou tagged along, but we eventually separated ways since we had to wash up after the class. I remembered I was talking and giggling with Anna-chan and Nonoko-chan while Hotaru-chan was flicking and tweaking with her mobile machines, and then __**BOOM!**__ And everything turned 360 degrees upside down._

"Mikan."

Hm, I responded. The girl looked intense.

"Your soup is … bubbly."

"Ack!" I yelped as I released the spoon on the bowl from my hand, emitting a sharp clanging sound.

And people started staring at us again, this time even murmurs could be heard. Gah.

"And I thought I am the klutz between us two." Naoko whispered softly as she sighed. "The soup's cold. Eat the spaghetti instead."

"Mama, that girl is so clumsy!"

I threw a scornful look at the kid who just insulted me. The boy immediately quivered at my stare, and I could hear him say 'She's so scary!' to his mom. Hmph.

What impolite child, I thought to myself.

"Gee Mikan, you're so unkind towards children."

I knew she was teasing me. I huffed in exasperation as I took a fork and practically stabbed on the pasta and twirled it before popping it into my mouth.

_It pisses me sometimes when the fact that the younger generations nowadays began to grow wary of the traditions once considered important to the elders. Manners, to top the list. And in spite the fact that I am only a 20-year-old, I fully understood the demise of the older generations, constantly worrying of what their children would be in this modern 21__st__ century, because I have suffered more than what those spoilt brats had._

"Oh crap."

I snapped my head at Naoko, and she had this horrid look on her face. And she was gaping at her wrist-watch.

"Late again?" I said dryly.

She nodded profusely and started to shove everything into her mouth. The main course, the dessert. Her lips were stained with the pasta sauce and also nuts with the cream from the strawberry cake.

I looked at her distastefully. "You looked disgusting."

She quickly wiped off the stains off with a face napkin and grabbed her purse. I'll pay the bills and go ahead first, she said. And then, somehow, she ended up on the floor.

**OUCH.**

I heard gasps around and eyes were fixed to the bottom of my table.

I crooned my head and saw her sprawling in a not-really-appropriate position.

"Mama, I think the scary girl's clumsiness is affecting that girl."

It was that boy again. I shot him another glare, and this time, he hid behind his mother's back, while the latter gave an apologetic look to me.

Naoko tried to get up herself, but failed miserably. I saw that her hand was clutching on her left ankle, and that look on her face showed that she's not fine at all. And then I realized she was hurt.

I stood up from the chair and everyone immediately went quiet. I knelt in front of her and smiled. "I think you're right about whom being the klutz among us two," She nodded and looked like she was about to burst into tears. I pulled her up and placed my hand around the waist.

"This is so embarrassing." She muttered and hung her head as I helped her to walk towards the counter.

"Well, other than tripping on your own chair and spraining your ankle—" I paused, "—there was nothing much to be embarrassed about." I grinned at her, and a small pout formed on her lips.

We walked rather slowly towards the cashier, careful enough to not hurt Naoko's ankle further. I fished out my purse and I heard a groan from beside me. She frowned at me and shook her head, saying that she promised it was her treat.

"Shut up, lady. I don't want to see a broken leg after this."

And I paid. There goes my savings, I thought. And the girl just looked plain rueful when she sighed.

-

"I think I can manage now. It's not that painful already."

I removed my hand from her waist and let her walk by herself. Even though it looked awkward, but it seems like she had gotten better.

**BEEP.**

My phone rang and I proceeded on taking it out from my handbag.

_**Private.**_

I cocked my head to the right at the Caller ID. _Private?_

Suddenly, I heard Naoko screeching from a distance.

"Naoko?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm terribly sorry! I'll pick these up for you. I'm sorry again!" Naoko apologized as she quickly picked up the documents.

I shook my head and sighed. Fortunately the people in the streets didn't stop out of curiosity in the middle of the street. I mean, they don't even bother to stop to acknowledge what exactly happened or to help the casualty. Or maybe if there's a huge accident, then maybe, **MAYBE** people would start to gather around and whisper among each other without even bothering to call 911.

Tch, How conceited could this people be?

"Here. These are all your papers. I'm sorry again." Naoko handed the person the papers which were scattered on the ground.

"Why, thank you." the person responded. "And I didn't expect to meet you here either, Mikan."

I was startled. I was too busy helping Naoko pick up the files that I didn't really took note of the person Naoko stumbled into.

I looked up and stared at the person who just mentioned my name. I froze, and I unconsciously dropped my cell onto the hard ground.

**CRACK**

Off went the cell, towards the hard ground and the glass screen cracked prior to the contact on the asphalt.

「 Ms. Sakura Mikan,

This is an official confirmation letter from Tokyo Private Investigators Corp. The private investigator you have hired for your case has arrived with convincing and reliable reports after going through a thorough investigation. We ask you to come to our headquarters in Shibuya at the nearest time possible. Reports unclaimed for a certain period of time will be disregarded, however the client will still be charged of the investigation expenses. We look forward on your presence here in Shibuya.

Enclosed with this letter is our headquarters address in Shibuya. You will receive the mail shortly.

Best of wishes, from the Tokyo P.I Corp. 」

"You… I…" I couldn't speak properly as I was too shocked when I recognized the person standing in front on me.

Without realising, tears started welling up on my eyes and flowing endlessly as I clasped my mouth with my hand in shock.

"Nice to meet you, again."

**未来のため****に ~ ****第一****章~ ****終わ****り**


	3. 未来のために 第二章

**Disclaimer: Pretty much self-explanatory.**

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**未来****のため****に****第****二****章**

"Nice to meet you again, Mikan."

"Eh? You know her?"

"Apparently, maybe." Mikan wiped off her unexpected tears. She then picked up her phone, glanced on the cracked screen, flipping it back. "Can you leave us both for a minute? You can go now though, since you're almost late to work."

"Ah! You're right! I'll be ahead of you then! See you next time! Ja!" Naoko then strode off to the bus station to catch on the vehicle.

"Apparently huh? It's been long, Mikan. I've missed you."

"How did you find me?" Mikan stared hard at the lady.

"I didn't _'find'_ you. As you can see, your clumsy friend accidentally bumped onto me and dropped all my documents." she replied sarcastically.

Mikan looked at one of the said documents that were scattered around.

「_Tokyo P.I Corp._ – _Private and Confidential _」

"Tokyo P.I Corp"?

"Yeah. I'm a private investigator there." She said as she picked up the highly-classified documents.

'_Has she found out about my visit there?' _Mikan thought deeply. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"Here. Read this. I shouldn't be exposing this information now, but I think you need to know this as soon as possible." She said as she passed Mikan one of the documents.

Mikan glanced briefly at the paper, carefully reading every single word.

'_Gakuen Alice, well-known for serving as a fortress where humans whom possess extraordinary abilities live in, was abolished and destroyed by the Anti-Alice Organization led by __**Koizumi Luna**__ in year 2018. The survivors of the academy were persecuted and humiliated in public as they suffer tribulation and condemnation by the government, especially by the politicians. Two years has passed and the AAO continued their pursuit for Alices, leading the latter to damnation as they grow extinct. Classified investigation revealed that there is actually a secret organization who gathers Alices all over Japan, creating new identities and supplying them with documents which helps them to blend into the society with ease. This secret organization, is led by…'_

Mikan's eyes widened as she read on. _"No way…"_

"Read on please."

'…_Nogi Ruka. Mr. Nogi is one of the remaining survivors of Gakuen Alice in Japan and he has acquired help and manpower from the survivors of Alice __Académie__ in France. The secret organization is also co-led by several of Mr. Nogi's friends whom were also Alices. The organization basically serves as a place where pursued Alices seek shelter and help. Members of the organization live a normal life unless their identities were exposed or when they encounter difficulties in blending in with the society. Though it was said that they show no sign of gathering, research revealed that some members, especially the ones in higher ranks, show signs of assembling occasionally, the purpose is unknown however.'_

"_Ruka-pyon…" _Mikan thought. "Where did you get this from?... Hotaru?"

"I'm a private investigator after all. And Mikan, if you still hadn't know, you're one of my clients." Hotaru explained briefly. "Ah… I'm thirsty. Shall we go for a drink?"

"Um…" Mikan looked at her wrist-watch, _1.25pm._ She heaved a sigh, but a small smile formed on her pink lips. _"Guess I'll be skipping work today."_

**_-_**

"_Ne Hotaru? What do you plan to do after our graduation?"_

"_I don't know."_

"_Are you going to be an inventor? Are you going to migrate to other countries?"_

"_Why are you asking this?"_

"_Nothing... It's just that… we'll be separating after this right?"_

"_Perhaps, maybe."_

"_I was just thinking… Wouldn't it be lonely… and sad when we finally chose on our own path, towards our own future? Everyone would be on their own by then…"_

"_That is, if the Academy allows us to do what we want freely."_

"_Yeah… I know… But it's still sad."_

"_Stop being mushy and let's go for our lunch."_

**-**

"It's been long since we've sat together like this huh?" Mikan said as she sipped on her cup of coffee.

"Yeah. How've you been all this while?"

"That is supposed to be my line.

"Yeah right. Like I've said, I became a private investigator in Tokyo P.I Corp. Life was hard at first, but eventually got used to my present life without Alice. You?"

"As you can see, I'm an office-girl now. I'm working as an assistant manager in a bank."

"Not bad, for a dummy like you."

"Thanks for the compliment. Anyway, about the investigation…."

"Right. Seems like the organization is running active recently."

"Hotaru… Do you… by any chance, joined this organization?"

"Hm? Not really. I'm more preferably called a freelancer. Although sometimes I do attend their important meetings."

"What exactly does this organization do? And... why is Ruka-pyon inside this as well?"

"It is better if you meet him personally. He would've given you a better explanation."

"Then… About those co-leaders… Who are they?"

"Tsk tsk tsk Mikan. You do have a lot of questions, don't you? I'll bring you to the headquarters sometime later, and you'll get all of your questions answered there. And I believe Nogi would be delighted to see you, so does _him_."

"But… I don't think I'm ready… You see… For the past two years, I have been trying very hard to adapt myself into the society as a normal person, not as an Alice. I've tried my best to forget about the past and live on like a normal human. I avoided myself from being friends with others, because I was afraid the same thing would've had happened on them too. Now, after two long years, friends whom I thought perished together with Gakuen Alice are actually alive, but they are living in the shadows. After pushing myself towards the limit and overcoming my fears, how do you expect me to ready to embrace the past again?" Mikan literally blurted out everything in her heart.

"It's that girl right? The girl called Naoko."

"Naoko? No. It's nothing to do about her."

"Oh well. I don't want to waste my precious time and saliva to persuade an idiot like you. This is my card. Give me a call if you change your mind. Your treat this time." Hotaru picked up her sling bag and stood up from the table. "Pretend we're strangers when you come to my office. Ja."

Mikan took the card and glanced it briefly.

_Imai Hotaru_

_Female_

_Private Investigator_

_Tokyo P.I Corp_

_Normal* Human_

_*as in non-Alice._

'_Hmph, they even had a classification for Alices and normal Humans. Pathetic.' _Mikan thought as she heaved a sigh.

_**Ring!**_

"Hm? A call from Aoshi?" Mikan looked at her ringing cell phone. '_Damn, I'm gonna be scolded.'_

_-__**flip**__-_

"Moshi moshi?"

"_Oi Sakuraa!! Don't moshi moshi me! Where are you now?? Why are you skipping work again??! Do you wanna get fired??!"_Aoshi literally shouted from the other side of the phone. Mikan had to pull the phone further away and as he continued shouting, a few twitches can be seen on Mikan's head. And when the shouting stops…

"Are you done shouting? You're pissing me off. I'm not feeling well. Ja." Mikan hung up on Aoshi and looked at the card again. _'Normal Humans…' _and she sighed again when she saw the cracked screen of her cell phone. _'God… Today is definitely a long day…'_

**-**

_On the other side…._

"_Oi Sakura! This is not how you're supposed to talk to your boss! Oi Sakura!"_

**-**

"Welcome! May I know who are you searching for?" a receptionist greeted Mikan. Behind the receptionist, a rather large and classy board is hung on the wall. 'Tokyo Private Investigators Corporation, Shibuya Branch', its logo and motto is craved nicely onto the board.

"Um… I am a client. I have yet to know the identity of my private investigator."

"Okay. May I see your client card please?"

"Here." Mikan passed the previously said card to the receptionist.

"Please hold on, your data will be processed immediately."

"Okay…" Mikan said as she waited patiently. After all, a private investigator corporation has to keep everything confidential and there shouldn't any flaws in conversing with their clients.

"She's my client. Let her in."

"Oh! Imai-san. Okay. Here's your client card. Sorry for the wait." The receptionist apologized as she passed the card back to Mikan.

"Oh it's nothing." Mikan smiled slightly and followed Hotaru to her room.

"Mikan."

"Hm?" Mikan answered as she closed the door behind her. Both Mikan and Hotaru are in the latter's room.

"I've got a newest update on the secret organization. Nogi said that he---"

"Wait. Did you tell Ruka-pyon that I'm still alive?"

"Don't ever interrupt me when I'm talking, and no. I didn't tell him."

"Sorry…"

"Where was I? Ah yes… Nogi said that he will be holding an important meeting for the higher-ups of the organization, but the time and date has not been confirmed. I'll be attending it as well. If Nogi knows that you're alive, I'm sure he wants you to join the meeting as well." Hotaru said.

"I… I don't think so…."

"Think about it. You'll have your questions answered there. That concludes the investigation for now. Here, take these documents with you." Hotaru passed the envelope to Mikan. "I took quite a few pictures of the remaining survivors of Gakuen Alice. You might reconsider about going to the meeting after you've seen those pictures."

Mikan took the envelope and headed towards the door. "Thanks Hotaru."

"The cost of the investigation, I will mail to you later."

Mikan literally sweat-dropped. "Right… See you later…"

"Don't forget to ring me up."

"Okay. Bye." Mikan bid Hotaru farewell and left the company. It was Sunday, and Mikan didn't have any plans for the day, so she went home to her apartment, where she lives alone.

**-**

_**Strapp!**_

The seal of the envelope tore off as Mikan took the documents out. Since she has already read the documents a week ago, Mikan proceeded to take the pictures out. The pictures were sealed in another smaller envelope, and as the Mikan tore the seal off, she dropped all of the pictures on her bed.

'_What a mess…'_ thought Mikan.

As she looked through the pictures, she saw Ruka's picture, Hotaru's and also …………….

**-**

"_Hey Hotaru. Mikan here."_

"Yes?"

"_I think…."_

"What?"

"_I think I'm going to the meeting."_

"Great. I'll inform you about the details later. Ja."

"_Ja."_

_**-flip-**_

'_Mikan… You hadn't changed at all.'_

**未来****のため****に****第****二****章****終****わ****り**

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Author's Note:

Sorry for the inconvenience! I intended to make separate chapters, but I guess it's too short. So there. Sorry again. Please rate and review! Thanks.


	4. 未来のために 第三章

I'm trying my best to make this story good. Please forgive me if it doesn't and if it bores you. Please give me your opinions of this story . Sorry this is kind of rushed, so I didn't really revise it back. Please tell me if you spotted any errors. Enjoy! =D

**Disclaimer: Pretty much self-explanatory.**

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**未来****のため****に****第****三****章**

"What do you mean by this?!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Sakura, it's not like I'm condemning your work, but you have been slacking off recently, haven't you?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Aoshi-san. I'll submit a new report as soon as possible." Mikan apologized wholeheartedly.

"Do not disappoint me again." Aoshi heaved a sigh.

"Yes sir, if you'll excuse me."

-

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look too well. Should you take a day off?"

"I'm absolutely fine. Sorry for making you guys worry.."

"If you say so… Don't overwork yourself kay?"

"Mm! Thanks a lot." Mikan smiled a little as she looked at the clock.

'_What a day…'_

**_-_**

_**Ting tong!**_

'_Mikan-chan? Are you in there?'_

"_Hai! Coming!" Mikan called from her room. Who's so early?_

_**-opens door-**_

"_Eh? Naoko-chan? Why are you here?... with your luggage?" Mikan ruffled her hair while ogling at the humongous pink luggage at the entrance of her apartment._

"_Ohayou Mikan-chan! From today onwards, I'm moving in your apartment! Yoroshiku onegashimasu!" Naoko greeted with a smile._

"_Huh? What? What do you mean?" Mikan practically had the shock of her life._

"_Actually you see… Uh… I think I'll explain to you later. Can you bring this in? I'm going to work for now. So see you after work! Ja!" with that said, Naoko scrambled to the elevator and got on, leaving a clueless Mikan and her own luggage._

"_What? No way…" Mikan asked herself, obviously puzzled and confused._

**-**

_**Brr Brr…**_

Just then, Mikan's cell phone vibrated, indicating a call, thus snapping her out of her _flashback_.

_Caller ID: Imai Hotaru_

_**-flip-**_

"Sakura speaking."

'_Hey Mikan. About the meeting I said earlier on, Nogi said it'll be held next week Tuesday, 6pm. Are you fine with it?' _Hotaru spoke from the other line.

"Yeah, I guess so… You're going, right?"

'_Of course. I'll pick you up then. Ja.'_

"Eh eh! Wait!"

'_Yes?'_

"Will… Will _he_ be there?"

'_Hm… I don't know. See you then.'_

_**-flip-**_

Mikan sighed in exasperation. It's been a week since Hotaru contacted her. _Bad things come one after another huh?, _she thought as she heaved a sigh again.

"Sakura. Slacking off again?" came a husky voice from Mikan's left. The latter was startled by the call of her name and literally jumped at the sudden calling as she replied _Sorry _in a rather loud tone. She then quickly scrambled to her laptop and typed a new report she promised to her boss.

_**-**_

"Hey Mikan. It's 5pm already. We're going for happy hour, are you coming with us?" a colleague nudged Mikan, who was working her head off on the report. She's been thinking deeply the whole time, causing her to lose her concentration in typing the said report.

"Ah! I'll pass this time. Enjoy yourselves!" replied Mikan gleefully as she continued tapping at her laptop.

"Alright. See you tomorrow!"

"See you." Mikan bade her colleague farewell as she sweated in completing the article.

_**-**_

"Alright! It's done, finally!" Mikan cheered and silently praised herself for the _great _work she had done. Her thoughts were then interrupted by a sudden clap, a clap which echoes throughout the whole office. Her eyes quickly turned towards the direction of the sound. _Eh?_

"_Great _work Sakura." a calm and masculine voice spoke as the clapping died down. "You sure took your own sweet time in completing such a simple report huh?"

Mikan's eyes immediately shot back to her wristwatch, which ticks at exactly 8.30pm. _Whoa, that late?_ Without realizing, Aoshi was quietly approaching the brunette, who was busy printing out the articles and clipping them neatly.

"I-I'm so sorry!" called Mikan as she did the finishing touches on the report, that is putting them securely in a file. _Done!_

With that said, the twenty-year-old stood up abruptly. "Aoshi-san! Her-" her eyes grew wide open as Mikan saw her boss stepped closer to her. A little too close, that is. Then she realized, she's the only one left in the office, alone, with Aoshi. _Alone… _Mikan shuddered at the thought and quickly disregarded the wild guesses flowing in her mind.

"Hey…" Aoshi took off his spectacles and inched closer towards the brunette. Both of his blue orbs glowed a shade lighter as he smirked. "As far as I remember, you were rude to me on the phone last week, right _Mikan?_" The latter immediately froze at the call of her first name. His tone was flirtatious, almost teasing.

"Uh, Aoshi-san… I'm sorry about that… I was not feeling well then… But… You're too close…" Mikan fidgeted as she attempted to escape from the scene, from her boss to be specific. Aoshi wrinkled his forehead and appeared annoyed and a little surprised when the auburn-haired girl refused to look him at the eyes. His eyes grew shades lighter, and soon it became the blue sky color.

"_Kazuki_. Call me by my first name, _Mikan_." the brunette grimaced at the call of her name, again. She stiffened even more when Kazuki suddenly tipped her chin with his fingers, while he placed his other hand on Mikan's table, as if trying to trap the brunette with his body. As the boy's face inched closer to hers, a stupefied expression etched across Mikan's face. Her auburn orbs glowered a little under the dim room, making her prettier than ever….

"Did you ever know that you're so darn beautiful?"

…in someone's opinion, that is.

And that was the last straw. Horror etched across Mikan's small face as she unconsciously widened her mouth slightly at the flirtatious and strange behaviour of her chief. _Where did the usual cheery Aoshi-san go? _Mikan thought silently as she pushed the file containing the report against her boss' chest. Just then, her stomach suddenly grumbled due to the lack of food… or dinner. Silence enveloped the two beings as they both looked at the direction of the sound.

Suddenly, Kazuki burst into a fit of laughter as he removed his hands from the table and wore his spectacles again. He adjusted them briefly and proceeded to place his hands into his pockets while Mikan blushed of her embarrassment. "You're interesting, Sakura. Let's go. I'll treat you dinner." His eyes' color returned to its normal pale blue.

"Uh… Aoshi-san…" Mikan spoke timidly as she got hold of her handbag.

"It's Kazuki. Let's go." Kazuki grabbed Mikan's hand and dragged her out from the office. The hallway was dark and dim and as the lights flicked a little, Kazuki pushed a button on the elevator controls, his other hand still clinging onto Mikan's.

"Uh… I can walk by myself, you can release my ha—"

_**THUD!**_

"—hand… Huh?" both Mikan and Kazuki turned their heads towards the direction of the noise. _A ghost? _Mikan shuddered at the thought as she moved closer to her boss. But what she hadn't realized is that her boss is also backing away as he grabbed her hand tighter.

From the dark, faint but _squashy_ footsteps could be heard. They were shallow and barely audible, but it echoed throughout the whole halfway. "Aoshi-san…" whispered Mikan. She trembled as the footsteps became clearer and clearer, indicating _it_ was nearing them.

As the footsteps became almost sharp and clear, Mikan shut both of her eyes tight, in case she happen to see something really scary appearing from the dark. She prayed silently for the elevator door to open before anything_ supernatural_ happens. Supernatural wasn't her thing after all.

Suddenly, Mikan froze when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Her breathing stopped as she slowly open her eyes. "Sakura. It's just the janitor. Don't be afraid."

"Huh? Janitor?" was Mikan's response as she looked questioningly at Kazuki, whom blue orbs were looking sharply at the other side, and Mikan's golden brown orbs followed suit. Then realization hit her, "Oh… A janitor…"

The janitor was clad in a blue uniform, black boots and a blue cap, which partially covered his face. He was arranging his cleaning tools such as brooms and dustpans when he realized the couple's presence.

"I'm sorry if I've startled you. The broom fell and I was just picking it up. My apologies." was the janitor's apology with his husky voice.

"Oh. It's okay. Though I suggest you should at least fix the lights as well, right Sakura?" Kazuki looked at Mikan knowingly when the lights kept on flicking.

"Yes sir. I'll change the bulb as soon as possible. Sorry for the inconvenience caused." the janitor said as he bowed quietly at the couple.

"Okay okay. You need not to bow." Kazuki sweatdropped at the formality of the janitor.

_**Ping!**_

"Ah! The elevator is here. Shall we?" ushered Kazuki to Mikan who was quiet throughout the whole conversation with the janitor.

"Oh! Yes, of course." responded Mikan. She was actually spacing out as she was deep in thought about _something_. She then stepped into the elevator, followed by Kazuki.

As the elevator door was about to close, the janitor slowly retreated from his bow, revealing an unexpected sight for Mikan. His eyes were fixed on Mikan until the elevator door closed completely.

Mikan bit her lips as her hand twined with Kazuki's tightened, which she of course, didn't realize. _Ruby eyes…_

Kazuki felt Mikan stiffened when her hold tightened. "Sakura. Is there a problem?"

Mikan, being spaced out, didn't respond to the boy's question and tightened her hold on his hand. And when it is too tight… "Ouch! Sakura! That hurts!"

"Ah? I'm sorry! I didn't realize I took your hand by accident!" responded Mikan as she released Kazuki's hand when she heard his sudden shriek. Kazuki blew his hand gently to ease the pain due to the tightened hold of Mikan's hands.

"It's okay… Are you fine? You don't look well." asked Kazuki when he saw Mikan lowered her head and tightened her hold on her handbag. "Well, it's okay if you don't want to tell me. But I'm not going to cancel our dinner date tonight."

"Eh?" answered Mikan when the elevator door opened with a 'ping'.

"Let's go." nudged Kazuki, "Where do you want to eat? Japanese restaurant? Korean style?"

"Huh? Um… I'll take Japanese-style." replied Mikan as she continued to space out on her own. _Ruby eyes… _

"Okay… I'll go take my car. Wait here." Kazuki said as he walked towards the car park, leaving Mikan alone outside the building.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

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/ \ | \/ _ \ \| |

/ _/\__/\ _ \ _ |__|\__\_/ \_\_|\___ |

_(It was supposed to write Mikan, indicating Mikan's POV. Sorry.)_

Aoshi-san went off to fetch his car while I waited for him at the entrance of the building where we both work. The night was cold, and I couldn't resist the temptation to gaze at the night sky.

"Ah… Full moon…" I murmured to myself as I admired the gleaming stars, which were as if dancing around the moon, cheering on the occasion of the full moon. The huge star, looked as if it was so near that I could just grab it and place it on my palm, but when I stretched my hand towards it, it was much bigger than my spread palm. _Ah… The irony…_

I laughed at myself silently as I continue to count the stars outspread throughout the sky with my fingers. The sky was clear from clouds, revealing numerous stars which myself couldn't even finish counting.

I tilted my head a little towards the tall building behind me. The lobby was dark, indicating that it is closed during these hours. _Dark… _It was sort of describing my past. Black, dark, complicating, sad.

But somehow rather the whole atmosphere reminded me about who I am today. The night was bleak and sad, the bell chimed rhythmically while the autumn wind blew past me gently, causing me to shiver at little. Indeed, everything was as if trying to describe myself— someone who is lurking in the darkness, living life cautiously to prevent one's identity to be exposed, and as such that the word 'happiness' didn't exist before in my life. A loner, perhaps, but I _was _not one like this.

"_Oi."_

_I straightened up myself immediately. The icy tone startled me as I was gazing dreamily at the sky. The clear sky at night didn't fail to amaze me as the stars sparkled proudly at the endless sky._

"_Ah hey. Natsume."_

_I tapped the seat next to me, signalling the raven-haired lad to sit on the grassy land with me. The grass was soft and comfortable, in such a way that you'll just fall asleep if you lay there long enough._

"_What are you doing here? I thought I saw you drooling though." asked Natsume as he proceeded to sit beside me, then lying on the grass. He hid his hands behind his head as he looked at the night sky._

"_I could ask the same of you. And no, I'm not drooling." I scowled at the remark as I followed him and lied on the grass, watching the stars together._

"_Hn. I'm just bored." was his short reply. He then closed his eyes and enjoyed the tranquillity of the surrounding. Indeed, the good thing about this place is the peace it gives us whenever we feel troubled or when we need solitude. This, in fact, had made me grow a liking on the Sakura Tree, and I believe Natsume feels the same way too. However it is, unfortunately, not blooming anywhere soon since it's almost the end of Autumn._

_Right… Winter is approaching fast, so does our Graduation Day. We're eighteen already, and Natsume's birthday has just passed a week ago._

_I opened my eyes and gazed at the sky again, amazed._

"_Ne Natsume?" I broke the silence enveloped between us as we enjoyed each other's presence._

"_What?" I saw Natsume frowned as he opened his eyes, revealing his charming crimson red orbs. He looked at me expectedly from the corner of his eyes._

"_What are you going to do after we graduate?" was my question. I could feel Natsume stiffened prior to the question._

_The fire-wielder closed his eyes again and kept quiet. He appeared to be deep in thought, and after a few minutes, he said something that I've never expected. Multiple possible answers filled my mind as I waited for his answer. But that, is something I never thought he'll say._

"_Who knows? I might be dead even before we graduate." was his unexpected reply._

_Though the answer appears to be simple and short, and that it might be predictable for some, I was expecting for him to say something about his future or something. I frowned at the reply and kept quiet. I stretched my hand vertically up towards to sky, as if I was trying to grab the stars, another hand I used to support my head as I lay straight on the grass, and once again, silence enveloped us both._

_Suddenly, Natsume heaved a sigh and straightened up himself in a position in which he's half-sitting and half-lying. "Look. I'm sorry. But I really don't know what will become of me in the future, even tomorrow."_

_I chose to keep quiet as I continue to play my fingers on the air, fervently counting the number of stars sparkling in the sky while ignoring the lad's statement._

_Then, I heard Natsume sighed again, a little softer this time. Suddenly he took hold of my playing fingers and pecked my hand gently, and I froze at the sudden act. "I'm sorry." Natsume whispered as he released my hand. He then stood up and walk away from the Sakura Tree, leaving me in a state of shock, and my hand dangling mid-air._

_And it was disappointing when he acted like nothing happened the next morning. He did his usual routine, teasing and making fun of me. I silently scolded myself for hoping for the impossible, but drops of tears were still shed that day._

My _reminiscing _thoughts were suddenly interrupted when I felt my cheeks warming up and it was wet. _Shoot. I cried with noticing I did._

I quickly wiped off my tears when I suddenly sneezed. Right… It is mid-Autumn now. Winter is approaching fast and the wind is getting colder day by day. I sneezed again and silently blamed myself for not bringing a sweater with me despite the cold weather. I quietly prayed that Aoshi-san would come around with his car before I actually catch a cold. I was biting my lip as the wind blew across my skin. Mind you, I wasn't wearing my usual uniform as it's a Friday today, and it's a rule for the workers in the bank to wear smart-casual attires on Fridays to promote hospitality for the customers. Therefore, I'm clad in a simple peach brown-colored circle-patterned dress and a dark brown pair of boots wrapped around to my knees to match my dress. You could say that I look like a teenager going for a party.

After a few seconds, Aoshi-san's car is still not here, and not long after, I started sneezing again.

"_Ahh-choo!_" I tried my best not to sneeze too loudly, then suddenly I felt a fabric covering my shoulders, giving me warmth, and instantly I stopped sneezing.

"Eh?" I turned my head abruptly, only to see the janitor I saw awhile ago. I freaked out a little because he was covering his face with his cap, again. "Err… T—Thanks…" I murmured as I hold on the jacket tighter. It was a black leather jacket, an expensive one it seems, and I wonder where did the janitor got it from.

"You'll catch a cold wearing like that, my lady." spoke the janitor politely. The latter then took a broom from his cleaning tools and swept the dead leaves around the floor, which very much likely indicates the season.

"Yes… Thank you…" I whispered and bowed slightly at the janitor. Just then, Aoshi-san's vehicle stopped in front of the entrance. "Ah Sakura! Sorry for making you wait!" Aoshi-san came out from his car and ushered me into the vehicle.

"Have a great time." the janitor spoke again before I entered the car as he bowed while holding on to the broom. I stared at him, and even after the door is closed by Aoshi-san, the janitor is still bowing, so I couldn't get a clear look of his face. _How mysterious…_

_**-**_

Just as Kazuki was about to speed off, the janitor retreated from his bow and straightened his uniform. Taking on the opportunity, Mikan scanned his face carefully, especially his _eyes_. But she was rather disappointed when she saw the janitor's eyes were _**blue**_, not ruby. She sighed and proceeded to buckle herself with the seatbelt.

_**-**_

"Thanks a lot for the meal, Aoshi-san." Mikan said as she bowed at Kazuki, in expression of her gratitude. They are currently at the entrance of Mikan's apartment, and they had just finished their Japanese-style dinner.

"It's my pleasure. But Kazuki please?" smiled the lad as he stared knowingly at the brunette.

"I'll pass. Thanks again for the meal! See you on Monday!" Mikan bade farewell and ran towards the security room.

"Ah wait! Sakura!" called Kazuki as he brought a black jacket out from his car. "I suppose this is yours?"

Mikan stopped at her tracks and looked back at Kazuki. _The janitor's jacket…_ "Um… Yeah! Sorry I almost forgot." she ran back to the car and took the said cloth.

"But don't you think it's kind of big for you?" asked Kazuki while passing the jacket to Mikan. The brunette sweatdropped, and bade her boss farewell for the second time, and brought herself to her apartment through the elevator.

_**Ping!**_

The elevator door opened when it reached the 14th floor. When Mikan stepped out from the elevator, horror struck her as she saw a sleeping lady in front of her apartment. _Shoot! I've totally forgotten about Naoko-chan!_

"Hey Naoko-chan! Naoko-chan. Wake up!" whispered Mikan as she shook the lady gently.

"Huh? Mikan-chan?" Naoko said tiredly as she rubbed her eyes out of sleepiness. "MIKAN-CHAN!!!"

"Shhhhh— You're gonna wake the neighbours!" Mikan snorted as she searched for the keys to unlock the lock on her metal door.

"It's 11pm now! Did you know how long I've waited for you?" Naoko scowled when she recalled she had no keys to enter Mikan's apartment and that she had to wait all night for the brunette to return home, not forgetting to mention that her blood is more or less sucked by stubborn mosquitoes. Her cell battery drained out when she tried to contact Mikan. Terrible luck, you could say.

"Sorry Naoko-chan… I've totally forgotten about you… Have you eaten?" Mikan walked into her apartment while Naoko threw herself on the leather couch.

"No… Do you have instant noodles?"

"Yeah I have. In cups though. You want it? I'll make one for you."

"Thanks a lot!"

"I should apologize. By the way, you hadn't told me the reason you're moving in into my house. What happened to the house you rented?" asked Mikan while she poured hot water into the cup of instant noodles.

"That's a long story to begin with. Long story short, the place I was staying is too far from my working place. And second, I didn't pay the rental for the last three months."

"Huh? Then what did you do with the money you earned every month if you didn't use it to pay your rental?" Mikan asked questioningly as she passed the cup of noodles into Naoko's hands.

"Thanks—Ouch ouch! It's hot!" whimpered Naoko when she touched the cup filled with hot boiling water. "I kinda spent it on shopping…"

Mikan sweatdropped. "Oh well. Looks like you have no choice. But let me clarify this, since you're moving in, you have to pay half of the expenses of this house."

Naoko giggled. "Of course. I wouldn't let my dear Mikan-chan suffer alone. Besides, this is one pretty house. You took great care of it" commented the girl as she slurped the noodles into her mouth.

"Thanks for the compliment. Well, this is one expensive house to start with. I can't afford to mess it up since I'm staying here alone."

"Oh…" was Naoko's reply while she looked around the apartment. There's one single bed at the left corner of the apartment, a television set and sofa signifying the living room, a small kitchen and a bathroom built just beside the kitchen. A simple house, you could say. Although it appears small, but it is actually quite spacious, compared to Naoko's rented house.

"Oh yeah, you'll be sleeping on the futon until you buy a new bed for yourself. My bed can't possibly fit in two people." explained Mikan as she came out from the bathroom, wearing pyjamas. She then proceeded to take a clean wrapped futon from the cabinet and spread it beside her bed.

"Okay… That, has to wait till end of the month, when I get my pay." Naoko commented as she threw the plastic cup in the rubbish bin. She then changed her clothes into pyjamas. "Sorry for troubling you, Mikan-chan."

"Nah. It's okay. As long as you pay for the expenses as well." joked Mikan as she tidied her clothes, including the black jacket. The brunette stared at the jacket as she recalled the scene with the janitor.

"Hey Mikan-chan? Whose jacket is that? It certainly doesn't look like yours, though."

And that, startled Mikan as she tried to find an appropriate answer that would not make Naoko start teasing her, _again._

"I—It's…"

"It's your boss' right? That Aoshi Kazuki guy?" Naoko interrupted Mikan before she could say anything.

"Huh? Aoshi-san?" was Mikan's blunt reply.

"Ah never mind. I'm too tired to butt into your matters. I'm gonna sleep now. Oyasumi."

Mikan sighed in relief when Naoko really tucked into her futon and slept right away. 'I hope she doesn't snore…' thought Mikan as she off-ed the lights and tucked herself into her sakura-patterned blanket.

"Oyasumi, Naoko-chan."

**-**

_Somewhere…_

"Tch. I hate wearing contacts." a husky voice cursed as he took off the liquid-like object from his eyes, revealing _dark maroon orbs_. He then took off his uniform and his blue cap, beads of sweat seen trickling down his slightly tanned face. He swiftly brushed off his sweat and fixed his messy long _raven hair_. '_What a day…'_

**未来****のため****に****第****三****章****終****わ****り**

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**Author's Note:**

Whoa! This is so long! Over 4000 words! Please read and review!^^ Check my profile or PM me if you want to talk or be friends with me~ I don't bite ya? XD See yah~


	5. 未来のために 第四章

Uwah! Time really flies!

It's already the 7th of December,

And next year I'll be sitting for my entrance exam,

Which means I'll have less time to update my stories,

But worry not,

For the sake of Gakuen Alice, I'll strive!

Well then, enjoy, and don't forget to **READ** and **REVIEW**^^

**Disclaimer:** _You know the drill._

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**未来のために ****第四章**

"_Ahhh—choooo!!!"_

A loud sneeze arose as the sun perked up from its hiding place, shining proudly as it emerged from the subtle horizons. It was an hour past dawn.

"_Ahhh—chooo!!!!!!" _

…and the sneeze is _nothing _near the minimum decibels a human ear can hear. Right, in short, it's pretty loud.

"Man… this sucks…" a certain brunette murmured to herself as she picked up a piece of face napkin from the box.

Her current housemate, Naoko, raised a brow while staring at her antics, clearly amused.

"What?" Mikan asked as she glared at the lady who was grinning sheepishly at her.

"Nothing. You sure look cute when you sneeze." was Naoko's only reply as she brought herself up and proceeded to the bathroom. She scratched her messy bed-head hair as she stood up groggily, stepping unsteadily towards the said room. She then paused and tipped her chin with her right index finger. "Oh right, I forgot."

"Shut up. I'm not in the mood to joke." Mikan snorted as she continued to take another napkin as she sneezed again on it, softer this time, though.

"Haha. Look at yourself." teased Naoko as she brought some clothes and a towel and walked towards the bathroom. She then stopped mid-way and turned towards Mikan. "Maybe you should take a leave today, considering you've been sneezing like, for an hour now? Want me to help you call your boss? That Aoshi Kazuki guy was it?"

Mikan tilted her head and glared at the now chuckling brunette as the latter shut the bathroom door tight. "I don't work on Saturdays, if you forgot." Mikan muttered loudly, but not loud enough for Naoko to hear as she already turned on the water tap. She then heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the sound of water running onto the floor and Naoko humming in her shower. Mikan then got up from her bed and proceeded to the kitchen to throw all of her used face napkins into the rubbish bin when she suddenly heard a loud groan.

"Damn! My color dye came off!" wailed Naoko as she muttered a few more curses behind the door.

Mikan merely chuckled at her short complaint, but replied, "You can always go to the saloon to fix it."

"It's expensive, damn it! Now I have to buy another kind of 'color-lock' shampoo. This brand sucked." complained Naoko as Mikan heard the water tap being turned closed. After a few minutes, a _blonde_ Naoko emerged from the bathroom, stomping grumpily towards her luggage with her pyjamas hung over her shoulder. She has yet to unpack all of her belongings as she was too tired the night before.

"You look great in your natural color. I don't understand why you want to fix it brown, though." commented Mikan as her nose became itchy again. She quickly ran to her bed for another napkin before she let out a loud sneeze.

"Because I wanna be like Mikan-chan! You're so cute with your brunette hair!!" was Naoko reply as she leapt on the brunette, hugging her like teddy bear, and successfully making her dizzy.

"Naoko…chan… I… feel… dizzy…." said Mikan as she was twirled around by the overly-excited Naoko. Sometimes she feels like an older sister to Naoko, especially when the latter is hyped-up and her childish side outweighing her mature side. Oh well, maybe it's quite normal for a twenty-year-old to be childish. Adults themselves are childish at certain times too.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Naoko apologized as she stopped twirling Mikan around the house. Mikan then plopped down on her sakura-patterned bed, dizziness obviously overwhelming her. "Ah! I got to go work now! I'll buy some porridge back during lunch hour, so take care of yourself before I come back, kay? Don't worry, I'll inform your _boss _that you're sick. Who knows, maybe he'll be the one who's buying porridge for you, not me."

"I told you I don't work on Saturdays!" Mikan growled at Naoko's remark, which resulted in the latter in pause. "Oh… Right… I forgot. Well, I work as a promoter in Smiles, so I don't have day-off during weekends, especially when families always hang out together during weekends." Naoko rolled her eyes at the absurdity of working 7-days-a-week. "Well, I could always call him to inform him about your condition though." She winked.

Mikan swore that she could feel Naoko smirking evilly before exiting the house. She couldn't see her expression as she was still a little dizzy, plus the face napkin she's holding is still draping on her face.

"Great. There goes my weekend." muttered Mikan as she proceeded towards to the kitchen to find something that could fill her stomach before she consumes the drugs.

The brunette rummaged through her kitchen cabinet and refrigerator before she realized that she hasn't bought the groceries for the month yet, not forgetting to mention that she rarely cooks at home. She would either eat out with or without her colleague, or she would just take-away and eat them at home.

Mikan shrugged and decided to take the medicine without eating first-hand. She had no choice. Her sneezing had taken its toll on her and she was too tired to drive out prior. She then ransacked through her refrigerator again to search for a certain blue plastic container, where she kept all the drugs which her doctor prescribed, the ones she didn't finish consuming after she got well some time ago.

After rummaging through her electrical machine and the said machine practically having its worst nightmares being broken into by its owner, Mikan was disappointed and slightly ticked off when she found out there's no more medicine for colds and fever in the blue container. "Drats…" she muttered.

She scowled and threw the poor container on the floor before plopping down on her bed again. Today is definitely not her day. And neither was yesterday. Mikan frowned when she recalled the rather awful memories she had last night. Her usual happy-go-lucky boss, who mind you, is only 22 years of age, was acting all seductive and flirtatious when they were alone in the office yesterday night. He perhaps, just wanted to tease and fool around with her. Her frown deepened when she recalled further, when she had her hopes all crumbling down when she _accidentally imagined_ the person she was _searching_ for all this while, in disguise as a janitor, stalking her like nobody's business.

_Wait…_ Mikan's wandering thoughts came to a halt. "When did I actually _start _searching for him??" she practically shouted to herself as the house is currently occupied by her only.

As if answering her question, Mikan suddenly heard swift knocks on her wooden door. _Eh?_ _It couldn't be Naoko-chan… Plus, she has the house keys, why bother knocking? _Mikan thought to herself. "Coming!" She shouted and got up from her bed, rushed to open the door. The dizziness has probably gotten over her.

"Huh?" was Mikan's only reply when she saw no one when she opened her door. However, there was a paper bag placed in front of her. She then raised a brow and stared at the item. _Could it be… a threat? A slaughtered corpse? Or?..._

Mikan quickly shook her head as weird thoughts began to fill her mind. There was no way that someone would threaten a nice and good girl like her, plus that way of threatening is way too old-fashioned. That person must be a retard if he or she actually wants to threaten her with a decapitated arm or limb or whatsoever.

Suddenly, realization hit Mikan as her jaw widened of horror. _Unless… my identity as a Gakuen Alice survivor has been exposed!_ Mikan thought as more illogical and irrelevant thoughts flowed into her mind. Mikan continued staring incredulously at the paper bag, not knowing what to do with it, whether to throw it without looking at the items stuffed in it or… but knowing herself, she's too curious to know what exactly is inside the plastic bag.

She knows exactly the meaning of 'Curiosity kills the cat', but she's indefinitely not a cat to begin with. In short, Mikan felt totally disheartened and ambiguous in making the right decision, whether to bring in the white bag or not. She stood there and spaced out for almost half an hour, seemingly forgetting to sneeze as if she was cured of her cold, as she continued to stare dreamily at the bag, thoughts running on her mind.

Spacing out on her own thoughts, Mikan didn't notice that a man, standing at the opposite of her apartment was observing her since the past half an hour, and his patience is definitely wearing thin. Mind you though, the opposite of Mikan's apartment is exactly twenty meters far and at least forty meters high.

"God damn it. Just take the damned plastic bag in." a husky voice muttered as he continued observing the brunette. The man got annoyed further when he saw the girl going back into the house and came back out with a wooden broom after a few minutes. She then took the broom by its head and poked the white paper bag with the stick. _Is this girl a retard or just plain stupid? _the man thought.

After about 20 minutes fidgeting with the paper bag with the wooden stick, Mikan finally confirmed and satisfied with herself that the contents of the paper bag is nothing near a sign of threat. The brunette picked the paper bag up before she sniffed a sneeze again. She then slammed the door behind her close and walked towards a table to put down the paper bag.

**_-_**

After observing for ten minutes more, the man finally left his spot and walked towards the elevator. He then wore his black hood on so that nobody could see his face clearly. When the elevator door opened with a 'ping', it revealed two men in their twenties, one blonde and one with long black hair.

The blond man in the elevator stared at the black-hooded man curiously, wondering why would a mysterious person like him lurking around the apartment during broad light. He cautiously scanned him from head to toes.

The black-hooded man was clad in a black and shiny overcoat which looks like a leather product. There is a half-unbuttoned grayish-black tee underneath the leather coat hugging his body, revealing a little bit of his tanned skin and toned muscles. Not forgetting to mention that he is wearing a pair of long black slacks, plus some accessories on his wrists and neck. Nonetheless, he couldn't even see his face clearly because it was shaded by the hood, and the man lowered his head a little. In short, he looked like a ferocious gangster with his well-built body, and you'll think twice before trying to mess with him. The black-hooded man quickly step into the elevator, emitting a strange and dark aura, making the blond man stiffen and divert his gaze onto the elevator buttons, pretending to ignore the dangerous aura the man was emitting.

On the other hand, the young lad with long black hair eyed him from the corner of his eyes as he leaned on one of the steel walls of the elevator.

"It's rude to stare at someone that long." the black-hooded man muttered without turning his face towards the lad.

"Don't get too full of yourself. You're just merely a visitor, if I'm not mistaken. And it seems like you're just, I mean,_ still_ a bratty kid, huh?" replied the young lad as he closed his eyes and appeared deep in thought as the three of them silently waited for the elevator to reach its destination.

_**Ping!**_

The black-hooded man was the first one to step out from the elevator. As he was about to walk away, he heard someone calling him from behind, making him pause.

"Ano…" the man with golden hair trembled as he uttered those words with great fear. The mysterious man is definitely giving him creeps, but he had to make sure about something, about this familiar feeling. He couldn't help but to feel something really strange, yet familiar about this guy. (oh really?) "Do I know you?..." he whispered as he waited for his reply. His whisper was crisp but there's a slight calmness in his tone.

The hooded man didn't respond, and he walked away after a few moments of silence. "Hyuuga." the man with black hair spoke calmly while the blond man beside him narrowed his eyes on his partner, slightly annoyed. _What are you planning to do, Tono? _

The black-hooded man paused again when Tono spoke. Silence engulfed the three of them as Tono stared sternly at the man's back, clearly waiting for a response. "I am no Hyuuga." was the hooded man's reply as he walked away from the two men with a rather fast pace.

"Hn. Let's go." Tono nudged the blonde guy and walked towards his parking lot, with his partner trailing behind him.

_**-**_

"Oi Akira." the blonde spoke calmly as he closed the vehicle's door. He was a little ticked off by Tono's actions awhile ago.

"Aw… Akira is too formal… Please call me Tonouchi or just Tono, okay? And what?" Tono frowned as he inserted his car key into the keyhole and the engine began to run.

"What were you planning to do awhile ago? By calling that guy 'Hyuuga'." he looked at his partner as the latter drove off from the apartment.

"Nothing much." was his reply. "I just wanted to make sure about something. That's all. Don't worry, Shuichi."

Shuichi heaved a heavy sigh. "You know, by merely mentioning that name, you're risking three of our lives, I mean, _four_ of our lives. You ought to change your personality a little to avoid any suspicion."

Tono chuckled as he fished out his cell from one of his trousers' pockets. "Changing my personality… You mean like how you did when we were at the elevator with that brat? _Ano… Do I know you_?" he imitated Shuichi's trembling tone and burst into laughter. "Man, you're one great actor." He heard Shuichi grunted softly beside him before passing his phone to the blonde man. "Let's call Subaru. I think he wants to know about this too."

Shuichi nodded in acknowledgement and swiftly dialled the buttons and placed the cell onto his ear. It took a few seconds before Subaru picked up the call.

"_Hello, Imai here."_

"Subaru, there's some news you might want to know."

"_About?"_

"Hyuuga. Assemble everyone in three days'. We'll need to attend Ruka's meeting, _this time_."

"_So he's not dead? This __**thing**__ is getting a little interesting, don't you think Shuichi? No worries, I'll try to get everyone by Tuesday."_

"It _is_ interesting from the very beginning. Thanks for your help then. Ja."

"_Ja."_

Tono stared at Shuichi from the corner of his eyes as he sped on the highway with his Rift whilst the latter flipped-closed the phone and heaved an exasperated sigh.

"So… where to?" Tono asked the blonde man beside him.

"Ruka." He replied solemnly. Tono raised a brow at Shuichi when he realised his partner uttered only one word. "And?"

"Huh? Right. Pleeeaasse?"

Tono winked at his seatmate. "That's more like it." He swiftly changed gears and prepared to step on the acceleration pad. "And stop being _emo_, it doesn't suit you." and he drove off full speed towards their destination.

_**-**_

A tall man was seen _maneuvering_ a Prancer bike towards an old and shabby apartment. The white paint on the walls of the said apartment are peeling off, leaving ugly traces of its old almost-pale green paint, and cracks can be seen everywhere. He hopped down from his bike and took off his helmet, revealing a black hood. He then fished out his house keys as he climbed up the only staircase in his apartment, which is three-storeys-high, which also explains there is a dusty and dirty stairs instead of an elevator. Talk about the security and safety if a fire happened to break out in the middle of the night. Right. His house is in the third floor and just two rooms from the stairs.

As he closed the door behind him, the man took off his black hood, revealing bizarre _indigo-coloured_ hair, obviously dyed. He suddenly heard a 'meow' as he stepped into his messy and dusty apartment.

A cat appeared from the end of the house and hopped towards her owner. Her fur is stale gray in colour and has streaks of arsenic colour on it. The man kneeled down on the floor upon seeing his pet running towards him, petting her as she meowed affectionately.

"Hey there, Cleo." he greeted his cat, which responded with an affectionate meow.

_**-**_

Mikan sat down on her bed, still carrying the white paper bag. _'I wonder who left this outside… What's inside anyway?'_ Quenching her curiosity, Mikan proceeded to open the paper bag, and was a little surprised to see the contents.

A bowl of hot porridge packed in recyclable polystyrene, two packets of prescribed medicines, for colds and fevers respectively, a few disposable clinical thermometers and a… _get well card??_

'_Could it be Naoko-chan?' _thought Mikan as she picked the card from the bottom of the paper bag and opened it.

_Everyone has stealing powers,_

_The power to steal one's money;_

_The power to steal one's feelings;_

_The power to steal one's possession,_

_But I will never let anyone, _

_or anything steal you,_

_Not even Death._

Mikan's eyes practically boggled out from its sockets when she read the over-dramatic and cheesy poem which was scribbled neatly on the get-well card. _How could a cold possibly send a healthy person to Hades! I meant, __**usually **__healthy. Anyway, Naoko would never do these kind of things._

Her auburn eyes moved down to the end of the card.

_p/s: You idiot, you must have no single edible food in your house…_

Mikan unconsciously nodded at the fact written, as she continued reading the second line,

…_And you must have finished all your damned medicine._

Mikan nodded again for the second time and looked at the blue plastic container she threw on the floor a while ago before putting down the card on her lap. She wondered who would have sent her such… _essential_ stuff.

The first person to come into her mind was Hotaru. But she quickly disregarded the possibility because knowing Hotaru, she would _never_ write such mushy poem, not even to her boyfriend, if she actually has one. Plus, she wouldn't have bought those drugs for her without charging a cent.

A Hotaru holding a white paper bag appeared in Mikan's mind, an evil smirk plastered on her face and her violet eyes glints with money. Mikan shuddered at the picture and felt a cold shiver running down her spine.

She then pondered a little longer for the possible people who have brought her medicine. It couldn't be her colleague since its Saturday, and no one other than Naoko knew that she was sick, specifically with a cold that is. It wasn't long before realization hit her. Mikan's eyes widened at the thought. _A stalker????_

_**-**_

"There there. Go to sleep now, Cleo."

Cleo meowed in acknowledgement and yawned before sleeping on her owner's lap. The man stroked the cat's fur as he looked kindly at her, eyes softened. He then carefully place the sleeping pet on the maroon couch beside him after dusting it.

The man stood up and brushed off some of Cleo's almost-silverly fur on his black coat and pulled off his indigo-colored wig, revealing stunning silver hair, which is _almost _similar to the colour of his cat. He then walked into a room at the left of the apartment and placed the wig on a plastic statue.

He then grabbed some contacts solution and a red container and went into the bathroom. The man then carefully took off the red-coloured contacts from his eyes and squeezed some of the solution before putting the fragile pieces into the container.

He raised his head up and looked at the mirror, satisfied with his natural look, where his blue eyes glowed and shined beautifully, his messy silver hair adding up to his bad-boy look.

"I'm 22 and I'm hot, and I am no Hyuuga."

_**-**_

"Ruka."

The call of his _real _name automatically clicked the 20-year-old blonde into Cautious mode. He stopped at what he was doing earlier and turned to face the person who called him. He immediately relaxed when he saw _them_. "Ah! Hello, Sakurano-kun, Akira-kun."

"Tono is enough."

Ruka nodded knowingly. "What brings you both here today?"

"We have something to discuss." Shuichi spoke, straight to the point.

"As far as I'm concerned, freelancers don't wish to affiliate with us organization." responded Ruka.

"This is different. This is about your organization, as well."

"Oh? What about it?" Ruka raised a brow as it had something to do about _his_ organization.

Shuichi suddenly narrowed his eyes into slits. "Seems like we have company."

"Ah! Right!" Ruka's mind clicked. "Don't you want to come out?"

A small grunt is heard as a man slowly emerged from the dark, his footsteps were so quiet that no one heard him walking in.

"Seems like _some_ of my questions have been answered before I was even able to ask." Shuichi said as he stared at the being, who is leaning onto the wall.

"So it's about Natsume?" Ruka enquired.

"What do you want from me?" Natsume spoke with his deep, husky voice.

"Well, lookie here. This brat, which we happened to bump into him earlier on, has no intention of admitting who he really is, huh?" Tono remarked sarcastically while looking at Natsume with disgust.

"What do you mean?" Ruka responded instead.

"Nothing. Just that he denied that he is Hyuuga when Tono called his name. And Tono, stop being childish." Shuichi nudged Tono, who is now having a silent eye-lightning fight with Natsume. Upon being said, Tono huffed and crossed his arms on his chest while Natsume just looked at him dryly.

"What time exactly is that _'earlier'_?" was Ruka's question.

"About… 9 to 10 o'clock in the morning?" answered Tono with a scowl plastered on his long face.

"That's impossible. Natsume was with me since dawn."

"Are you sure? Or is it just his spirit lingering around Mi—" Tono suddenly stopped mid-sentence when he realised he nearly spilled the beans. He sweated when Shuichi turned to look at him, or glare at him, rather.

"Mi—?" Ruka urged Tono to finish off his sentence.

"Mi… Milk Shake Café?" responded Tono nervously as he gulped down his throat. He looked at Shuichi from the corner of his eyes, who was giving him a you're-so-gonna-get-it-later look. He gulped again and smiled nervously at the curious juniors in front of him.

"Milk Shake Café?" Ruka asked questioningly while Natsume smirked, clearly amused at the silly made-up name by Tono.

"Anyway, the spot isn't important." Shuichi cut-in before Tono is able to slip his tongue again. He shot Tono a glare, signalling the latter to keep his mouth shut for the whole conversation. "What's important is, what is he doing now?"

"What I do, is none of your concern, you filthy freelancers." Natsume spat. "And what is it about me denying my own identity?"

Ruka looked at Natsume solemnly, his blue eyes softened. _'You're a freelancer too, Natsume…'_

"Stop pretending, brat. We saw you wandering around the apart—, I mean, café, just now!" Tono snarled, clearly losing his temper.

"Akira Tonouchi! I demand you to say a word no more from this very second!" Shuichi snapped while the two shuddered at the authority, but Natsume just stood there, unaffected.

"This is getting old. I'm going off. See you, Ruka."

"Wait, Natsume! Are you coming for the meeting this Tuesday?"

"…. Maybe."

"Great, I'll look forward to it!" Ruka beamed while Natsume just waved his hand lazily behind his head.

After seeing and confirming Natsume's presence is no more at the room, Ruka turned to look at Shuichi and Tono, his blue orbs narrowed into slits and his serious face replacing his usual innocent look.

"So… what about this discussion thing?" Ruka spoke with a husky voice as he stared at his seniors with his glowing blue eyes.

_**-**_

Mikan plopped down on her bed after eating the bowl of porridge and consuming the drugs. She was feeling drowsy and tired, and after a few minutes, her eyes finally gave in abd she fell into a deep slumber. She thought that the drowsiness was the effects of the drugs, but little did she know, things were never that simple, for the girl called **Sakura Mikan**.

She was awakened when she suddenly heard the door clicked open and felt a presence walking into her house. She heard the door being closed tight and locked with a click. But she was too tired, and she had no strength at all to open her eyes and look at the intruder. She heard soft footsteps approaching her and she felt someone stroking her hair, but she had no idea who it was.

Even though inside her was screaming and struggling to move and fight the intruder, but her body just wouldn't budge. She had zero strength and zero defence. Her mental strength slowly drained out as she began to fall into darkness. The only thing she heard before she was doomed into oblivion was…

…_Sweet dreams, Sakura Mikan._

**未来のために ****第四章 ****終わ****り**

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Author's Note:

I'll be away for a week or two for vacation, so I'll update as soon as possible when I come back, so see yah after the break! READ and REVIEW please~


	6. 未来のために 第五章

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for not updating for a loooong time. I don't know any way to compensate to you guys other than presenting this chapter. So please, do enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review! Your every word is precious to me :)

Note: Le Destinee's Chapter 20 is almost done, left is PR. So make sure you tune in!

**Disclaimer:** _You know the drill._

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**未来のために ~ ****第五章 ~**

**.Mich.**

"To tell the truth, I didn't really want to get involved."

_A dream?_

"Are you sure about this? For every decision you make, you will have to bear responsibility for it."

"Yes."

_It's too dark and fuzzy . . . I can't see a thing . . ._

"Why didn't you want to remember them all?"

"Cause' it's too painful?"

"No . . ."

"Cause' you are meant to be forgotten?"

_Forgotten?_

"She's too immersed in it. Try to distract her a little."

"Understood."

_Naoko's . . . voice?_

"I'm so sorry Mikan, it was never meant to happen this way . . ."

"It's okay Mom . . ."

_Mom?_

" . . . it's not your fault. It was I myself who chose to do this. So please . . . don't blame yourself . . . "

"Take these Alice stones. Make sure you keep it safely with you and never ever let it fall into the Anti-Alice's hands."

"Take her away! Why is she conversing with a corpse?

_Corpse? Oh yeah, now I remember. It was after . . . __**that.**_

My vision suddenly was blinded with flashes of light and by mere seconds, the light was gone and replaced with a gigantic screen.

Fire. Rain. A girl. A boy. Blood.

I couldn't hear them speak – I could only make out a few incoherent words when their lips moved.

It was weird. I could hear the rain falling down heavily onto the grounds and the wild red flames roaring behind the scene. But I just could not hear a single word they say.

The boy looked as if he was crying under the rain, _begging_. While the girl looked at him, bored as she kept a monotonous face.

_Are you remembering?_

The gigantic screen immediately extinguished and I was greeted with pitch black. And another screen appeared. This time, clearer.

I could see the woman who handed me the bag containing the 'Alice stones' started whispering to me.

"Mikan, live."

**SLASH.**

_I could feel hot liquid being splashed onto my face. I tried to open my eyes, but when I did, the light above me was blinding my sight, and the next thing I know, I felt a weight fell on my stomach._

_It was 'Mom'. Dead._

I woke up and immediately sat up. My mouth opened and tried to calm myself, breathless. My face was dripping with sweat and my right hand grabbed the wrinkled blanket.

"Mikan!"

The calling of my name instantly made me turn towards the person, and I could see her face stricken with horror.

"What happened?!"

Naoko rushed to my side from the opened door, I turned around, there was no one else in the house. She left her sling bag on the floor and sat on my bed.

"I saw the door opened wide and when I came in, you were lying here, but you don't look like you're sleeping! More like you've fainted! Did you know how much it scared me when I saw you just a moment ago?"

"I …"

I couldn't speak a word. I was still sweating profusely as I felt my whole body wet and sticky, a few drops of it fell on my hands.

_What was that? A nightmare? It's too damn real to be one._

"Was there … no one else in the house when you came in?" I whispered.

Naoko, in return, shook her head. "I just saw you, lying there, like you've passed out. And I thought the house's being burgled. But everything seemed untouched and looked the same when I went out this morning."

I composed myself, not as breathless as before. I turned to look at the blonde girl, and immediately pain rushed into my head.

"Argh!" I whimpered as I placed both of my hands at my ears.

"What's the matter?" Naoko tried to put her hand on my shoulder, her face concerned.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled at her. And then, I realized… I turned to look at her, "I mean, Naoko, I mean."

She was dumbfounded, shocked as she placed her hand back on her lap. "I'll …make you something to eat."

_What the hell was that? It felt like someone just took over my body and controlled me._

I slumped back down at the bed with my arms wide open. I stared at the ceiling, my mind wandering aimlessly as I smelled the fragrant aroma coming from the kitchen.

"Here. Eat something." Naoko approached me with a tray complete with a bowl of porridge and some small fish.

"Thank you Naoko-chan. And I'm sorry about earlier." I looked at her as she placed the tray on my lap.

"Don't worry about that. Now eat up." She smiled at me gently, her finger pointing at the bowl.

"Oh by the way, Mikan-chan. I just got promoted."

She beamed at me and showed me a piece of envelope. "It's my promotion letter, together with my bonus! So you want to hang out this Tuesday? I finally get a day-off after working for seven days a week for like two years already!"

_Tuesday. Oh yeah. **The meeting.**_

"Oh I'm sorry Naoko-chan." Mikan cut the girl half-way through her ranting. The latter stared at her questioningly, urging her to continue.

"I've … I've got something to do on Tuesday …"

Naoko frowned, her enthusiasm wavered a little. "I guess … It's alright then. Anyway," she touched my forehead , "I think your fever's gone down. You'll be fine. Now get some rest. I'll wake up you up tomorrow."

"Thank you, Naoko-chan. And sorry about that earlier."

She smiled at me gently and shook her head. "No problem."

And within minutes, I slept on my comfortable bed, peaceful at last. But the content of the nightmare was inevitably disturbing.

-

Sunday's the day, the busiest day of the week.

People rushing in and out of the bank.

Clearing off bills, making claims and etcetera.

Sometimes I get to meet up with people I've lost contact with since the days after Alice Academy was destroyed and the Anti-Alice Organization took over the government.

Rare chances they were, but we only get to talk for brief moments as either me or the person are busy of our own errands.

"Hotaru! Why are you here?"

"I'm here to ask you out for lunch of course dummy, what else." The lady replied dryly, her head shaking slightly at the thought of her once best friend's –me and my oblivious side.

There was something different about Hotaru today. The way she dressed I mean. She didn't look like a private investigator, at all. She was wearing a purple tank top, the sleeves almost hitched up to her shoulders and she had a khaki pants on. She looked like a regular person walking across the streets.

"Are you done drooling yet Mikan?" she muttered when she noticed I was looking her up to down and up again.

"Oh wait. Hold on." I snapped my gaze back at my desk and tidied it before walking towards Hotaru and off to lunch.

After walking across a few blocks and arguing with Hotaru whether to have Korean or Indian, we finally settled in a Chinese restaurant. When we walked into the restaurant, I was partially impressed. I don't usually dine in Chinese', so I don't know much about the architecture but this place is simply amazing. Though it was obvious that they have put red in emphasis, the slightly brown and gold-ish pillars across the dining hall give a mild ancient and homely feeling, and it was nostalgic. We seated on the table far right to the window, where we can get a full view of the streets. We ordered a plate of Chinese style fried rice and a bowl of hot soup noodles.

"Ugh. The chopsticks hate me."

I was practically struggling eating the noodles using chopsticks. I was a quite fluent user back then in the Academy, but ever since it happened, I stopped using chopsticks and opted for the western cutlery instead. And Hotaru just rolled her eyes at me and stretched her arm out to grab the chopsticks from me. And when she did that, her sleeve hitched up a little and I saw a scar at her right shoulder. _Something is wrong_, I thought, as Hotaru is known to have flawless pure white skin, and she wouldn't allow herself to obtain such a scar, a big one in fact.

I leaned in a little to have a good look at the scar, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the form of the scar. It was a clean cut of the Japanese kanji '桜', and my hand unconsciously reached out and grabbed her shoulder, resulting on the wooden chopsticks to clang away softly and a shocked Hotaru.

Her amethyst eyes were widened as she sat back on her chair and resumed eating her plate of fried rice as if nothing had happened.

"What … what is that scar?" I stammered as my hands trembled on my shaking legs. My body has been giving out strange reactions towards different things ever since I was drugged and after I had the terrible nightmare.

Though I knew I was in fact drugged, I dismissed the thought of someone trying to threaten me, should my real identity be leaked out. Naoko knows nothing either, so it was no point in asking her. It was my fault at first, to let my guard down in the first place by accepting the anonymous yet necessary items.

As if contemplating whether to tell me or not, Hotaru fidgeted uncomfortably on her chair. She had already finished her meal.

"Mikan." she started off with a serious look and cold eyes. "Do you know what this character meant?"

My heart skipped a beat again when she rolled her sleeve up until the part where the scar lies.

"Yes. It means … Sakura."

"It's your trademark."

She sighed heavily, slightly shaking her head at the situation.

_My trademark?_

"What are you talking about?" I chortled. "You're meaning that I inflicted that scar on you? Stop kidding Hotaru."

"Yes."

It suddenly became awkward. The silence that enveloped us despite of the crowded dining hall. I moved uncomfortably on my chair.

She sighed again and broke the silence. "Don't worry, it's not like you done it on purpose. I bet you don't remember it anyway. Just come on Tuesday, you'll be able to clear off the confusion on your mind then." She paused as she took a sip of Orange Juice, "Bill please!"

-

"Stop getting messed up with the scar idiot."

We were walking back from the Chinese restaurant to my working place when Hotaru suddenly yelled at me and hit me on the head.

"Ouch!"

"I said, stop getting that dumb brain of yours messed up because of this silly scar. It's nothing."

I hung my head low. "There must be reason that you didn't use your invention or whatever to scrap off that scar. I know how much flawless skin is important to you! There must be something! Something really important! But I can't … I can't remember it …"

"Hey Mik—"

I groaned in pain. It's back! The same pain I felt when Naoko tried to touch me. It's like eating me from the inside. I knelt down on the streets, my eyes firmly closed as I bit my lip. My head felt like it was about to break apart. Without me knowing, tears started flowing down my cheeks and when the pain became completely unbearable, I let out a sharp high-pitched scream and then, the pain was gone.

-

"Like I said, I didn't know what the hell happened."

**Blink.**

"I'm a private investigator, would I be stupid enough to stay beside my target if I was an assassin?"

**Blink.**

"You're completely ridiculous, now get out of the room before something real bad happens to you."

**Blink.**

"Hotaru?"

"Yes Mikan?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm right here."

"Open your eyes Mikan."

"It's opened! But I can't see a thing!"

Hotaru leaned it to take a look at the girl's eyes. Indeed it was opened. But above her hazel pupils was a layer of green shining fluid.

"Okay Mikan. Calm down."

She took a few deep breaths while grabbing tightly on Hotaru's hands.

"Tell me, is your eyes watery. Any liquid flowing?"

"No. It's dry. Why?"

"Because I'm looking into your eyes now and it is not your usual brown. It's covered with some kind of green shining layer. And it's floating around your pupils as if it's fluid."

**BREATHE****.**

Her head immediately snapped towards the direction where she heard someone else breathing. "Who's there?"

I felt Hotaru's hands on me loosen. "There's someone there." I whispered softly.

_Nogi __._

The name chimed in my mind. _Nogi Ruka_.

"Ruka?"

I heard soft gasps and Hotaru squeezed my hands. "Ruka?" I called again.

"I remembered you'd always called me by Ruka-pyon though. But Ruka's good enough."

"Ruka!"

I felt him embracing me, a warm hug I'd always wanted since like forever. It felt really good, and though I can't see, I knew he was smiling then.

But something triggered within me. My arms, which were around Ruka's neck, slowly slid off and my hand unconsciously touched the back of his neck.

_It's there!_

"How did you know it was him?" Hotaru asked, her tone questioning.

I removed myself from the hug, both my hands still at his shoulders as I turned my head towards the girl. "I kinda heard someone breathing really softly at the side, and then suddenly his name just chimed in my mind."

"Weird huh," Ruka said, "Your instincts are still as good as Nat—"

"Nat—?"

I heard Ruka coughing a little as I removed my hands from his body and the weight on the bed was no more.

_He has the scar too._

"Heh Nogi, it seems like you and Mikan have a pretty strong bond heh?"

I knew Hotaru was teasing him again – from her tone, and he just cleared his throat to avoid the topic.

"Just want to tell you that nothing could describe how much I'm glad to have you back here Mikan. And I was really shocked when Imai told me that you fainted."

"You guys—" I paused, "—still Nogi and Imai?"

This time, Ruka coughed even louder. "We're just accomplices, that's all.

I chuckled. "I smell something fishy though."

"Anyway, Mikan." she completely cut me off, "What exactly happened back there?"

"Before that, Ruka."

I heard him respond.

"The back of your neck. The scar."

And I heard another human being in the room. The one who just tsk-ed.

"Did someone just tsk-ed at me?" I asked impatiently. I turned my head towards random directions as I couldn't confirm where that person was.

"Tsk-ed? Not that I heard anything?" Ruka reasoned.

"I might be hearing things. My body's been acting strangely recently. Anyway, like I said, the scar."

"Uh … Was there a scar?" I heard him ask, his tone shaky.

"Yes there is. I felt it when you hugged me just now." I retorted.

"Nah. There's no any scar there. Anyway, Hotaru, Mikan, I need to take my leave now. Hope to see you this Tuesday. And Mikan, thanks for coming back. Got to run, bye!"

**CLOSE**

"I knew you were here."

He grunted.

"Not that I'm worried about her or what. Let's go."

"I think she's regaining her memories. And she saw, I mean, felt my scar too. And it doesn't explain why she suddenly became blind."

"Ruka. I'm not deaf. I heard everything. And so what? I don't give a damn about her. Not anymore. I'm tired. Can we go?"

Ruka sighed. "Fine fine. Let's go to the pub near your house."

-

I felt Hotaru staring at me.

"What?"

"For now, I want you to stop talking about the scar. Not in front of anyone. The answer to your question will come eventually, hopefully by Tuesday. Now, I want you to tell me what exactly happened to you that brought you into this kind of state."

"I … I was down with a cold. Since Saturdays are my day-off, I stayed at home. Then sometime during the morning, someone knocked on my apartment door and when I opened it, there was only a white paper bag on the doorstep."

"And you accepted it." Hotaru said bluntly.

"Well … I did inspect the content, but it was just porridge and some drugs for my cold. And a get-well card. A creepy one." I winced at the thought of the card.

"And?"

"Then after eating the porridge, I kinda felt dizzy and I think I fainted. I don't know whether it's the drugs' effect or somebody just drugged my porridge. But I think the latter is much more logical. Before my consciousness went off, I heard the door opened and closed-locked and someone stroking my hair. But I couldn't do anything."

Hotaru stared at me, "Are you sure you are not violated?"

That phrase immediately struck me. "Was I?"

I heard Hotaru sigh again. "If you were a blonde, I would've have thought that you're a dumb blonde. No offence though."

"Naoko-chan's a blonde! She's not dumb … But she's childish most of the times."

"Ohh…" was what escaped her lips. "So she's a blonde … And I thought she was the one with brown hair the other day?"

"Well," I stifled a laugh, "apparently her dye came off and she was complaining about the quality of the color-lock shampoo the whole day."

"I see … Hey, you want some water?"

"Sure. Um, Hotaru. Are you okay? You sound … unmotivated."

I heard the sound of water pouring into something solid.

"Here. Water. And I'm fine." Hotaru took hold of my hands and placed it around the glass.

"Thanks. Okay, if you say so."

"So what about the dream?"

I took a gulp of the water and a deep breath after that. The dream was still fresh in my mind, crystal clear, and I remembered every single detail of it, or at least most of it.

"You see, it was just flashes of blurry images. There was something about Alice stones and someone whom I called 'Mom' and then I was brought into another scene where the rain was pouring heavily and fire everywhere, then there was a boy and a girl. They were talking, but I couldn't hear a single thing. And before anything happen, I saw that 'Mom' again, and apparently she was stabbed or something and the next thing I knew, there was blood everywhere and I woke up breathless after that. That pretty much sums up everything. But after that dream, my body seems to go haywire and all. I even yelled at Naoko for no reason at all when she tried to tend me when she found the apartment was broken into."

"Hold on, you said that someone opened your door and," she paused, "… violated you, right?"

"I wasn't violated." I hissed, irritated.

"Whatever. Then you said the door was opened, and closed BEFORE that stalker touched you right?"

I nodded meekly, trying to understand what Hotaru tried to imply.

"Then logically, when the person left your house, he or she would've closed the door, cause your apartment wasn't burgled nor was it messed up, right?"

"True." I responded.

"Hm … Nevermind. He or she probably just forgotten to close the door after violating you."

"I said I was not violated!" I snarled, completely ignoring that I was still in the hospital.

"Okay okay. Chill."

I smiled at her and plopped down on my pillow. _Long day it is… _

What I didn't know with my eyesight gone and all is that, Hotaru was uncomfortably fidgeting and her normally expressionless façade was replaced with a slight frown.

-

"Give me another glass of this."

"Whoa Natsume, that'll be like your ninth glass. You should really stop drinking. I don't want to carry you back home with all your pukes."

"Shut up Ruka. Either you drink with me or you leave."

Ruka looked at Natsume's wavering face, "You're exhausted."

"I told you I was tired, didn't I?" He replied dryly.

"That's not what I meant."

Natsume grunted as he gulped down another glass of tequila one-shot.

Seemingly knowing Natsume's troubles, he said softly, "It's like a dream. Like a bad dream repeating all over again." he said as he swirled his glass of ice in a clockwise manner. "But you know."

He stopped again, and Natsume turned to look at him questioningly. "I'm just so glad that Mikan is still here."

The sound of the blocks of ice gashing against the inner wall of the glass chimed across, and Natsume turned away to drink down another cup of the alcohol.

"Just one thing though Natsume. Don't make the same mistake again."

Ruka patted his back and left him alone to think. He knew his friend needed time, more than anyone does. But he is sure, and he trusts his only best friend to know what he should do next.

-

"Tell me Sakura Mikan. Who are your friends?"

"_Hotaru. Ruka. Mitsume. Youichi. Aoi. Nobara. Tsubasa. Misaki. Narumi-sensei. And the list goes on."_

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"His existence is erased from her memory. There is no way she can retrieve it."

"My, don't you have many friends. I meant, who are your **REAL** friends?"

"_My real friends …"_

"Remember your friends, Mikan."

_It's that 'Mom' again! It's that girl and that boy__._

"These corpses are of your so-called friends. They believed in you, and yet you killed and slaughtered every single one of them ruthlessly."

I looked around. True, there were corpses everywhere and almost every one of them was either brutally murdered or had undergone tremendous torture to death. But I don't recognize any one of them. I winced at the sight.

"Mikan. The boy there. He is Hyuga Natsume."

_Hyuga Natsume._

**SLASH**

_I see the Natsume-guy falling on the ground, his chest opened and blood spilled out profusely. Everything seemed to run in slow motion. He dropped on the wet land with a loud thud, his crimson eyes completely widened as blood spat out from his mouth. His whole body shook as blood continued flowing out of him like water. I turned to look at the girl. Her white dress was smeared with blotches of red liquid, and she was drenched in the rain. Her head was hung low as she walked towards the boy._

_Standing up high above the fallen boy, I see the girl stabbing on Natsume's body like a puppet. Blood spilled out more and dirtied the girl's face. She looked up to wipe the blood the away, and what shocked me was that the girl has the exact same face with me!_

_She looked at the last person she murdered resentfully, her butterscotch eyes were cold and lifeless, and a wretched smile was stuck on her lips, as if she was enjoying the mass-murder._

_I turned back to look at the boy, he was still alive, barely. The final word which escaped his mouth before his soul left his body was … _

"NATSUME!"

Another nightmare. Much worse than the first. I struggled to catch my breath and my face is completely wet with cold sweat. I gulped my saliva down my dry throat, my body still recovering from the shock of the bad dream.

"Natsume …" I muttered softly.

**GASP**

Someone just hugged me!

The room was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing, nor the person who is hugging me now. Oh wait, I was blind, right? I tried to pry open the tight embrace but my efforts were in vain, the person was too strong. I tried to scream instead, but he or she outwitted me and closed my mouth before I could say anything coherent. My scream came out muffled and soft.

"Shhhh …" he hushed me. It was male. I knew he was trying to control the resisting me.

"Who are you?" I whispered between his struggling hand.

"It's Natsume. You called me right?"

My body immediately relaxed at the whisper of his name. Even I didn't know what happened.

"Promise me you won't scream."

I nodded meekly and he slowly removed his hand from my mouth and his arm from my waist.

Before he could say or do anything, my body reacted by itself and jumped into his arms again. I felt him stiffened, and was most probably surprised at my reaction.

All I knew was that I was crying and crying and crying on his chest and I kept muttering his name 'Natsume' again and again.

He, in return, relaxed and slowly reached his hand to stroke my hair as he gently said with his mellow voice, "Hush Mikan. Stop crying. Okay?" He hugged me tightly, as if he didn't want to ever let go again.

I swiveled and tried to remove myself from him. The part I cried on him was completely wet.

"I'm … I'm sorry."

WAIT. I could see? I'm not blind anymore?

"I can see." I whispered softly.

"Yeah. I think it was temporary, or maybe someone just did a spell on you or something, I don't know." He mused.

"Natsume." I started off seriously, though my eyes were still wet with tears. "I dreamt that I killed you."

I felt him stiffened as he kept quiet. "I didn't, right? I mean, you're here. So you must still be alive."

"Mikan."

My heart skipped a beat when he whispered my name. "Y-Yes?"

His arms reached out from the darkness and pulled me into another tight hug. I felt my head landing on the wet part of his shirt.

"I don't want to scare you." He paused. "But you did kill me."

That phrase seemed to echo across the whole room. It took me a while for it to sink in my mind. I gasped and tried to move away from the tight embrace, but he held me more, preventing me from moving at all.

"What … What did you say?" I stammered. My hands were already gripping his shirt, which is probably wrinkled by now. He placed his lips at my right ear, his hot breath fanning my neck.

"I said you murdered me_. __**All of us**_."

**未来のために ~ ****第****五****章 ~ ****終わ****り**

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Green button please? :)


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